Minneapolis, Minn., May 18, 2003 ¨C Penn State senior J.T. Kuretich (N. Versailles, Pa.) made the second day of the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships special for the Nittany Lion Track and Field Team as he claimed a Big Ten title in the decathlon.

Kuretich posted a score of 7,424 in the 10-event competition at the University of Minnesota to edge out Wisconsin¡¯s Ryan Tremelling Jr. (7,403) for the title. Kuretich became Penn State¡¯s 15th Big Ten Outdoor Champion and the second Nittany Lion to claim the decathlon title joining James Cook who won the event in 1996.

Kuretich ran a personal best time of 4:32.79 in the 1,500 to hang on to the lead and stay close enough to Tremelling to claimd the title.

"I was just focused,¡± Kuretich said of his personal best time. ¡°My mind was on his back. I knew I had to finish around five seconds behind him which is about 25 to 30 meters.

No matter what time I finished with, whether it was 4:30 or 5:30, I had to stay on him. I just had to fight. I didn't even know what time I ran. Coach had to tell me that

I ran a 4:32. I had no idea."

He posted his biggest scores in the 100-meter dash and the 110-meter high hurdles. He posted a 100-meter time of 11.11 and a hurdle time of 14.79, which garnered his top point total of the competition with 875 points.

¡°My personal bests were the 1500 and the javelin and that was only after I had a horrible vault.¡± Kuretich said of his competition. ¡°I regained my focus after that. This is my last year, I'm a fifth-year senior. I wanted to go out on top. My fianc¨¦e and dad are here. They traveled all the way here to see me. I knew I couldn't lose."

Kuretich¡¯s other marks in the competition where as follows: long jump (22-5), shot put (43-2 1/2), high jump (6-5 1/2), 400 meters (50.26), discus (125-9), pole vault (13-11 1/4), javelin (174-8) and 1,500 meters (4:32.79).

In other competition, junior Chavous Nichols took seventh in the long jump with a mark of 23-11. Senior Ian Hahn advanced to Sunday¡¯s finals of the 1,500 meters running a qualifying round time of 3:48.33. Freshman Matt Lincoln and sophomore Tim Walker both advanced to the finals of the 800 meters on the day running times of 1:51.66 and 1:52.63, respectively.

Competition in the Big Ten Outdoor Championships concludes Sunday.